It happens every spring. You walk to the mailbox and find a letter from the county, and when you open it, you discover it’s your tax bill. While you’re not surprised to be receiving the bill, you are surprised to find out how much you owe this year. It’s gone up again.
You think to yourself, ‘How can this be? I haven’t made any major changes to the house, and the community hasn’t made many improvements in the area. There’s no way I should be getting taxed this much.’
Before you start to stress out, I want to walk you step-by-step through the process of preparing a successful property protest.
Find Out How Much Your Home Is Worth
The first step in protesting your taxes is to know how much your home is worth. To get that information, all you’ll need to do is contact me and request a complimentary comparative market analysis report (CMA). This report will compare your house to others in the area that have recently sold or just been listed. I’ll take into account the number of beds and baths, the square footage, the features of the home, and the lot size. The recent sale of a house could be raising your property value. If it recently underwent a complete remodel, but yours is still in original condition, your value should be shifted downward.
Take Pictures of Your House
Since there’s a good chance your house isn’t a brand-new home, there’s a good chance there are items in need of repair on the property. Walk through the home and take pictures of the current condition and any other negative influences around the property. These influences may be busy streets, proximity to power lines, the water tower just behind the home, or proximity to commercial properties. While you’re at it, check Google Earth for a satellite image of your house to show the surrounding negative influences.
Request an Evidence Packet
This is one of the most important steps for you to take when protesting your property taxes. Reach out to the county appraisal district to get information on how they arrived at your property’s value. The information within this packet will be your main source of data in getting the property value reduced.
Submitting Evidence
When it’s time for you to submit your evidence to the tax office, remember to stick to the facts. The tax office only cares about the current-years value. While you may feel your taxes are ‘just too high,’ that is not a valid reason for the property value to change. When you submit the proper evidence with the appropriate exemptions and explanations why the value should be reduced, you’ll have a better chance at winning.